A gold pocket watch that was recovered from the body of the richest man on the Titanic will be auctioned on Saturday.
John Jacob Astor, 47, went down with the ship in 1912 after helping his wife on to a lifeboat.
Rather than try his luck with another lifeboat, the impeccably dressed businessman, a prominent member of the wealthy Astor family, was last seen smoking a cigarette and chatting with a fellow passenger.
His body was recovered from the Atlantic Ocean seven days after the sinking of the ship, which hit an iceberg on its maiden voyage to New York, and his 14-carat gold Waltham pocket watch, engraved with the initials JJA, was found.
Image: The Titanic leaves Southampton on her maiden voyage. Pic: AP
The watch is expected to fetch between £100,000 and £150,000 when it goes under the hammer at auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire on Saturday.
Mr Astor was thought to be one of the richest people in the world at the time of the Titanic‘s sinking, with a net worth of about $87m – equivalent to several billion dollars today, auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said.
“At first, Astor did not believe the ship was in any serious danger but later it was apparent she was sinking and the captain had started an evacuation after midnight, so he helped his wife into lifeboat four,” Mr Aldridge said.
Mrs Astor survived. Her husband’s body was recovered not far from the sinking.
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The watch was passed by Mr Astor’s son Vincent to the son of his father’s executive secretary, William Dobbyn.
“The watch itself was completely restored after being returned to Mr Astor’s family and worn by his son,” Mr Aldridge added.
He called it “a unique part of the Titanic story and one of the most important pieces of horological history relating to the most famous ship in the world”.
Mikel Arteta gives very little of himself away in interviews but what he makes no effort to hide is how much he wants this Premier league title.
It may not be in Arsenal‘s hands after slipping up against Aston Villa but the 5-0 bounce back against Chelsea this week was spectacular – and he still believes his team are “100%” in with a chance of being crowned champions.
The last time they lifted the elusive trophy was two decades ago in their “Invincibles” season when they went unbeaten in the league.
And the Gunners’ boss says they have an “unbelievable desire” this time around to clinch the Premier League title once again.
Image: Arsenal celebrating a 5-0 win against London rivals Chelsea. Pic:AP
Speaking to Sky News, Arteta said he was “really enjoying… fighting to win major trophies and being involved with the best teams in the world”, as Manchester City and Liverpool battle it out with Arsenal at the top of the pile.
Despite it being a nail-biting finish to the season, Arteta said to avoid jangling nerves the team talks about “all the positive things” they have, saying: “We have earned the right to be here.”
Image: Mikel Arteta. Pic: AP
The Spaniard continued: “We can look from every angle, every stat, we deserve to be where we are and we’ve done it for nine months and we can do it for the last three weeks.
“It’s on us and we’re gonna make sure we can do everything that we can.”
Arsenal have won the most games this season out of all the Premier League sides (24), scored the most goals in the division (82), and conceded the fewest (26) – but Manchester City are still title favourites according to football site Squawka.
Image: Manchester City are hot on the heels of Arsenal. Pic: AP
Pep Guardiola’s side have one game in hand over Arsenal, are one point behind and have a squad replete with talent.
But Arsenal too have a strong team and players from all positions scoring goals, as Arteta said they were not fatigued despite the intensity of the run-in.
He said: “When you are fighting for what we are fighting for there is no room for [tiredness]. I think if I ask any player, ‘do you want to play?’, they will be knocking on my door.”
Arsenal play their biggest rivals on Sunday in Tottenham Hotspur, and Arteta said the match gives the team “extra motivation” given the fierce history of the fixture and how much it means to their fans.
Read more: Liverpool reach agreement in principle over Jurgen Klopp’s successor Nottingham Forest to privately hear VAR audio connected to three penalty claims
Turning his attention away from football, Arteta admitted the title challenge has meant it’s not been an “easy thing” to leave his work at the door.
But the 42-year-old former Arsenal midfielder says his family, wife and three children have the “superpower” to disconnect him from work more than anything else.
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And asked about who he would want to sing at Arsenal’s last match of the season, Arteta said he would give the players the honour to pick an artist – but when pressed settled on Bon Jovi.
Arteta has so far won the FA Cup with Arsenal since taking over as manager in 2019.
The King is to return to public-facing royal duties, with his medical team “very encouraged” by the progress made in his cancer treatment.
The monarch has been receiving outpatient care since early February and despite the good news, palace sources stressed His Majesty is still continuing treatment.
The announcement that the King is doing well will be a morale boost for the family, with both him and the Princess of Wales being diagnosed with cancer.
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Princess of Wales reveals she is having treatment for cancer
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “His Majesty’s medical team are very encouraged by the progress made so far and remain positive about the King’s continued recovery.”
They added: “His Majesty’s treatment programme will continue, but doctors are sufficiently pleased with the progress made so far that the King is now able to resume a number of public-facing duties.”
The palace also released a new photograph of the King and Queen, taken in Buckingham Palace on 10 April, the day after their 19th wedding anniversary.
A significant moment for the King – but uncertainty remains
After a difficult few months we have a more positive picture from the Palace.
A personal moment of the King and Queen released with the news he can now return to public duties.
It’s the details he will be delighted to share.
Not only are his medics “encouraged” with his progress, and “positive” about his recovery, they’re also happy he can get back to work.
And for a man who is widely reported to be a workaholic, this will be wholly welcome.
Read Laura’s full analysis here
To mark his full return, Buckingham Palace said royal couplewill visit a cancer treatment centre on Tuesday.
“This visit will be the first in a number of external engagements His Majesty will undertake in the weeks ahead,” Buckingham Palace said. “In addition, The King and Queen will host Their Majesties The Emperor and Empress of Japan for a state visit in June.”
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The King and Queen are to celebrate the first anniversary of their coronation on 6 May.
The palace said: “Their Majesties remain deeply grateful for the many kindnesses and good wishes they have received from around the world throughout the joys and challenges of the past year.”
The prime minister has welcomed the news, posting on X: “Brilliant news to end the week!”
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Read more: Comedian reacts after prince calls his jokes ‘dad-like’ King creates new role for Kate in honours list Kate’s photo of Louis released to mark his birthday Prince William makes chilli con carne
The monarch has, by all accounts, been keen to get back to work and has recently been seen greeting members of the public at Easter and meeting the governor of the Bank of England to unveil new banknotes.
The King’s diary will not be a full summer programme, and attendance will be announced nearer the time and “subject to doctors’ advice”, with “adaptations made where necessary to minimise risks”.
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King makes first public appearance
The warmer weather as we move towards summer will allow events to be held outside and minimise the risk posed by other people that many cancer patients face.
The spokesperson added: “The pacing of the King’s programme will be carefully calibrated as his recovery continues, in close consultation with his medical team.”
A school in South Wales was locked down after a teenage pupil allegedly received threatening messages.
Gwent Police said Ebbw Fawr Learning Community in Ebbw Vale, Blaenau Gwent, was placed into lockdown at around 10.20am on Friday.
The force confirmed police officers attended the school in Wales, where they remained to provide reassurance.
Police said a boy has been arrested over the alleged threats – which did not take place at the school or the surrounding area.
A spokeswoman for the force added: “We have arrested a teenage boy on suspicion of making threats.
“The arrest did not take place on school premises and was not in the Ebbw Vale area. Our inquiries are ongoing.”
Parents were told about the incident via text messages from the school, that caters for children aged three to 16.
Read more: Gwent Police officers face misconduct Three injured in “major incident” at school Some roads in Wales revert back to 30mph
One of these texts, posted on social media, read: “All students are safe in classrooms and all doors and access points are locked.”
It continued: “The police have arrived and there is no risk inside the building.”
Another message sent to parents said the school is in “partial lockdown” and that all doors were locked with no one allowed in or out.
One boy hid under a desk while they waited to find out what was going on, according to Wales Online.
The incident comes after two teachers and a pupil sustained stab wounds at Ysgol Dyffryn Aman in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, on Wednesday.
The 13-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in the dock at Llanelli Magistrates’ Court today.
She was charged with three counts of attempted murder and possession of a bladed article on a school premises.
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The migrant dinghy in which five people died was chaotic, overloaded and packed with people carrying weapons and fighting, according to one of the passengers who was on board, speaking exclusively to Sky News.
Heivin, 18, confirmed the boat was stormed by a rival group of migrants, armed with sticks and knives, as it was preparing to set off.
She said: “People were fighting, people were getting stepped on, they were dying and being thrown off.”
She said she fell into the water but was pulled out by another person on the boat. Two other passengers who fell into the water, including a young girl, drowned. Three other people died on the boat.
Heivin said she “really hated” the group of people who hijacked their boat, insisting they should take the blame for what happened.
“They caused a huge tragedy,” she said.
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Five die after migrant boat ‘hijacked’
“It was because of them that people died.
“If they hadn’t come and started fighting, none of this would have happened.”
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The tragedy happened in the early hours of Tuesday morning in the waters off the French coastal town of Wimereux.
The boat, which launched with 112 people on board, stopped on a sandbar only a few hundred metres from the shore.
By the time emergency services arrived, it was clear people had died, both on the boat and in the water.
“I fell into the water but a man helped me up,” Heivin said.
“Everyone was climbing aboard and there were too many people – over 110 of us.
“I had tried to be at the front, but after I fell in the water I sat on the edge of the boat and didn’t go towards the other end – that’s where people were fighting.
“I thank God that I didn’t get into the top part of the dinghy. I would have suffocated. I thank God for that every day.”
Image: These men rushed on to the boat
She said her group, comprising between 50 and 60 people, had arrived at the beach in Wimereux after following the instructions of the people smugglers who had taken their money in exchange for arranging a passage to Britain.
Hidden away, they had waited for the smugglers to prepare the dinghy. She then saw police officers and was told simply to run towards the water.
At that point, the rival group emerged as well, clambering into the boat along with the people who had paid the smugglers.
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Heivin said she saw migrants from this group carrying sticks and knives, squaring up to both the police and the original passengers.
When the boat set off, exceptionally overladen, it meandered towards the Channel, but there was still fighting and it is clear that some people were being crushed.
“I was aware there was a fight,” Heivin said.
“They were shouting that people were stuck underneath other people, that they couldn’t get out, that some were falling under people’s feet.”
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Heivin has spent seven months travelling across Europe since leaving Iraq. She said she wanted to get to Britain because “it is a better country for me, definitely in terms of the language but also, in many other other ways, it is better than the rest of Europe”.
She’s made 30 attempts to cross the Channel, but has failed each time. Sometimes it has been the French police who have destroyed boats while other times the boat on which she was travelling broke down. One time, the boat failed only an hour from British waters.
She is undeterred by the trauma that she underwent, however, and she intends to try again to reach Britain as soon as possible. “Perhaps this weekend,” she said.
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a human torso was discovered at a nature reserve.
The remains – consisting of the bottom of the back, buttocks and thigh – was found in clear plastic by a passer-by at Kersal Dale Wetlands in Salford, Greater Manchester, on 4 April.
The victim is believed to be a white man over the age of 40, who had died a few days before the remains were found.
Two men, aged 42 and 68, from Salford, who are believed to be known to each other, were arrested on suspicion of murder on Thursday, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said.
The 42-year-old was arrested after officers stormed a bus in Eccles Old Road around midday, the force said.
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The other man was later arrested at an address in Worsley Road.
Officers had trawled through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage before making the arrests, GMP said.
Image: Hundreds of specialist officers were involved in the search. Pic: GMP
They had also deployed hundreds of specialist officers and scientists to search the Kersal Wetlands area.
A 20-year-old man previously arrested on suspicion of murder was later released on bail pending further inquiries.
Read more: 13-year-old girl charged with attempted murder Two horses which bolted through London in a ‘serious condition’
Detective Superintendent Lewis Hughes, of GMP’s Serious Crime Division, said the arrests were “a significant step” in their investigation and they will now question the men in custody which “could be key to finding answers”.
DS Hughes said: “At the centre of our efforts remains our victim. Our investigation is moving at pace and we are determined to identify him and find out how he has met this tragic outcome.
“This victim could be a father, brother, son, or cousin. He is a man over the age of 40, with white skin tone, believed to be European, and most likely had blonde or light brown hair and blue eyes.”
One of Britain’s biggest double-glazing suppliers has crashed into administration, leaving insolvency practitioners engaged in a race to salvage hundreds of jobs.
Sky News has learnt that Everest, which has been owned by the prominent financier Jon Moulton’s investment firm Better Capital for more than a decade, called in administrators this week.
ReSolve, a professional services firm, has been appointed to handle the process.
Sources said it was now engaged in an attempt to find a buyer for Everest in order to save as many of the company’s roughly 350 employees’ jobs as possible.
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Potential bidders are expected to include turnaround investors as well as industry players.
Mr Moulton, one of the City’s best-known turnaround specialists, has been winding down Better Capital for years, with Everest one of its few remaining investments.
He engineered a rescue deal for the loss-making business months after the COVID outbreak prevented its workforce from visiting customers in their homes.
A pre-pack administration, which took place in June 2020, salvaged hundreds of jobs and paved the way for the fulfilment of existing customer orders.
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According to information circulated to potential bidders by a different firm of advisers several weeks ago, Everest “requires an immediate funding injection to relieve creditor pressure which, combined with further significant investment in its marketing, systems and brand, can deliver increased market share, and a path to strong underlying profitability and growth”.
ReSolve declined to comment, while Mr Moulton has been contacted for comment.
A fourth person has been arrested on suspicion of immigration offences after five migrants including a child died while trying to cross the Channel.
The 18-year-old from Sudan was arrested yesterday evening at Manston in Kent and is now in custody being questioned, a National Crime Agency statement said.
It added that a 19-year-old from Sudan initially detained on Tuesday evening had been released without charge and was now being dealt with by immigration authorities.
“Two other men, a 22-year-old Sudanese national and a 22-year-old from South Sudan arrested yesterday (24 April) continue to be held,” the statement added.
Image: wimereux map
It comes after a seven-year-old girl, a woman and three men died during the attempt to cross the English Channel on Tuesday.
A further 55 people believed to have been on board the boat have also been identified and will continue to be questioned by police in the next few days.
Craig Turner, deputy director of investigations for the National Crime Agency, said: “This tragic incident demonstrates the threat to life posed by these crossings and brings into focus why it is so important to target these criminal gangs involved in organising them.”
Sky News was told on Tuesday that around 50 people who had paid for a place on board the boat helped carry it down the beach in Wimereux, northern France, before getting to the waterfront.
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It was at this point that another group of people emerged and pushed their way on to the boat, threatening those on board.
It meant that a total of 112 people were on the boat that was only meant to safely accommodate 20 people.
According to the latest data from the UK government, a total of 402 migrants were detected crossing the Channel in seven small boats on Tuesday alone – an average of 57 people per boat.
From 17-22 April there were no detected crossings.
Officers who failed to spot a murder victim had been shot could face a misconduct inquiry, a former senior detective has told Sky News.
Recently retired Brian Low, 65, was discovered dead on a secluded path near Aberfeldy, Perthshire in February.
Police Scotland initially classed his death as a “medical event” before launching a murder hunt a week later when they found gunshot wounds on his body.
Image: Brian Low. Pic: Jacqui Low
The force, which has faced claims of a botched investigation, has admitted it still has no suspect and no motive two months on from the cold-blooded execution despite 30 officers working to crack the case.
The initial seven-day delay in declaring a murder inquiry is being examined by Scotland’s police watchdog, The Police Investigations & Review Commissioner (Pirc).
Former superintendent Martin Gallagher, who retired from the force in 2022, says there are concerns over the officers who discovered Mr Low’s body and wrote the case off as non-suspicious.
Mr Gallagher told Sky News vital clues could have been lost and the killer may even have returned to the scene given the area was not cordoned off for days.
Image: Martin Gallagher
He said: “You’ve had officers attend a crime scene who have misidentified what has happened. There are questions to be asked about their ability and about their conduct.
“Police Scotland made a mistake at the start which is very unfortunate, but that happens.
“Police Scotland will learn from this and hopefully a training programme will be looked at in terms of how we deal with crime scenes initially in terms of homicide.”
Police Scotland refused to take questions from Sky News in an interview.
A spokeswoman said: “The circumstances have been referred by Police Scotland to the Police Investigation and Review Commissioner.
“It would therefore be inappropriate to comment further.”
Image: Pic: PA
Officers have visited 478 properties and interviewed more than 800 people in the Perthshire area as part of the probe which is now entering its third month.
Local resident Chris Clear told Sky News he believes officers are examining a theory the suspect may have fled the scene on a bike.
He said: “Yesterday they were asking me if we had bicycles. They are really just looking for people who used the track where Brian was killed.
“Someone has done it. They probably live here. It puts a bad feeling across the whole of the village.”
Labour will promise to deliver the biggest shake-up to rail “in a generation” by establishing the long-delayed Great British Railways (GBR) organisation and bringing routes back into public ownership.
Making the announcement in a speech on Thursday, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh will also pledge to establish a “best-price ticket guarantee” for travellers, offer automatic “delay repay” schemes and make digital season tickets available across the network.
But the proposals have been attacked by the Conservatives, who claim Labour has no plan to pay for them.
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GBR was first proposed in 2021 after a review of the railways, with the aim of simplifying the franchise system and rebuilding passenger numbers after they fell dramatically during the pandemic.
The proposed public body promised to subsume Network Rail’s responsibility for track and stations, as well as taking charge of ticketing, timetables and network planning.
But despite getting backing from Boris Johnson and his ministers, its establishment has faced continuous delays and the organisation yet to see the light of day.
Image: Boris Johnson backed the creation of Great British Railways in 2021. Pic: PA
Labour is now pledging to get GBR up and running if they win the next election, with some additional pledges of their own.
The party said the body, which would be run by industry experts rather than government officials, would end the “fragmentation, waste [and] bureaucracy” of the current network.
And it would “stop profits leaking out to private operators” by taking charge of passenger lines when franchises run out – leading eventually to the whole passenger network being publicly owned.
Labour said this method would prevent taxpayers from having to cover any compensation to the operators that would be due if they renationalised the railways immediately.
Image: Shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh will outline Labour’s plans on Thursday. Pic: PA
The party also pledged to create a new independent watchdog called the Passenger Standards Authority to ensure GBR keeps up its standards.
And it committed to introducing a statutory duty on GBR to promote the use of rail freight – still owned by private firms – to cut carbon emissions and reduce lorry traffic.
Ms Haigh said: “With Labour’s bold reforms, a publicly owned railway will be single-mindedly focused on delivering for passengers and will be held to account on delivering reliable, safe, efficient, accessible, affordable and quality services.
“Labour’s detailed plans will get our railways back on track; driving up standards for passengers, bringing down costs for taxpayers, driving growth and getting Britain moving.”
The proposals have won the backing of Keith Williams – one of the experts behind the rail review – who recommended the creation of GBR three years ago.
He said its creation would “deliver a better railway for passengers and freight”, adding: “Running a better railway and driving revenue and reducing costs will deliver economic growth, jobs and housing by delivering better connectivity.”
But the Conservative rail minister Huw Merriman attacked Labour’s plans as “pointless, unfunded rail nationalisation that will do nothing to improve train reliability or affordability for passengers”, adding: “Without a plan to pay for this, it means one thing – taxes will rise on hard-working people.”
His criticism was backed up by Rail Partners chief executive Andy Bagnall – representing private operators – who said while train companies “agree that change is needed… nationalisation is a political rather than a practical solution which will increase costs over time”.
